First Active e-savings account

ClubMan said:
Anybody know what the FA eSavings 5.22% CAR/AER gross rate equivalent is so? Does using the CAR/AER rate make my calculations just slightly or wildly inaccurate?
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Does it not quote somewhere that the interrest rate is 5.10% (which equates to an AER of 5.22%)?

This means the monthly interest rate is 5.1%/12 = .0425%

over 12 months (1+.0425)^12-1 = 5.22%

or am I answering something different?

Btw FA cashed my deposit cheque today, how long before they send all the account details etc out in the post?
 
ClubMan said:
The nominal rate for the 5.22% CAR/AER [broken link removed]. Presumably if my calculations were done using this figure they would be (more) accurate?
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I would imagine so.
 
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From my statement:

15Aug07 Opening balance €14,250
31Aug07 Interest €35.02 Balance €14,285.04
28Sep07 Interest €44.71 Balance €14,329.75
31Oct07 Interest €52.86 Balance €14,382.61

So:

First interest payment:

(((€14,250 @ 5.10%) / 365) * 16 days) = €31.86 gross or €25.49 net of DIRT. Even if it's actually 15 days it is still way off.

(((€14,250 @ 5.22%) / 365) * 16 days) = €32.61 gross or €26.09 net is also wrong...

Second interest payment:

(((€14,285.04 @ 5.10%) / 365) * 28 days) = €55.89 gross or €44.71 net so that looks correct.

Third interest payment:

(((€14,329.75 @ 5.10%) / 365) * 33 days) = €66.07 gross or €52.86 net.

Maybe my statement is a bit misleading and the initial balance was actually on deposit for longer than the 16 days?
 
ClubMan said:
From my statement:

Maybe my statement is a bit misleading and the initial balance was actually on deposit for longer than the 16 days?
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Not sure about this one (its a long thread!) but were people not saying earlier that the interest was being earned from the day the cheque was cashed but the actual account wasn't set up til after this date?

People on here were saying FA were inefficient, FA were saying it as due to the demand for the account.
 
Jethro Tull said:
Not sure about this one (its a long thread!) but were people not saying earlier that the interest was being earned from the day the cheque was cashed but the actual account wasn't set up til after this date?
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Ah - that's it I guess:

(((€14,250 @ 5.10%) / 365) * 22) = €43.80 gross or €35.04 net so it looks like they cashed the cheque but took another 6 days to actually open the account.
 
yeah, makes a bit of sense now...

so we can directly compare AER rates on different accounts irrespective of when interest is paid

e.g.
account A has an AER of 5.22% (nominal rate of 5.1%) paid MONTHLY

will have the same interest paid after 12 months as

account B with an AER of 5.22% paid ANNUALY
 
Yes - CAR/AER/EAR figures are specifically designed to be directly comparable. You will always get a better return on an account with a higher CAR/AER/EAR all things being equal.
 
Hi

Forgive the question but ...I gave up on thread after 11 pages (eyes got foggy ) ...Is it 4.07% on the whole sum if balance exceeds 15,000. My account certainly has cos I opened with 15000 during last May or June.

I wonder if I withdraw say a 1000 will I accrue at 5.22% going forward ?

Thx
Spin
 
It's 5.22% on balances up to €15K and 4.33% on the full balance over that. There is some confusion on whether this means the maximum balance to avail of 5.22% is €14,999.99, €15,000 or even up to €15,000.99. FA say "up to and including €15K" but I thought that some people reported getting the lower rate on €15K. Probably to play it safe and keep less than €15K on deposit to get the high rate. Check your statement to see what you were getting. If you can't work out the figures post some of them here (e.g. opening balance for the month and end of month interest payment - with dates).
 
Clubman

Thanks for the clarification, Clubman . You deserve a public service award for your dogged contributions here ...down to earnings on even that last euro between 14,999 and 15001!

I will follow ur advice and post my statement numbers soon.

Cheers
 
Hi
I applied online for First Active's esaver account and received the application forms in the post yesterday. I don't want to open the account now so can I just ignore the application forms or do I need to notify First Active that I won't be opening the account with them? Thanks
 
ClubMan said:
You will get the card reader in a few days. Then you will get the initial PIN for the card/reader. Did you not read the earlier parts of this thread where all of this is already covered?
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Mmmm I got the initial PIN and card, but no sign of the reader(been ~week)...

What was the arrival gap for you guys?

Can the reader fit through a letterbox like the Rabo digipass or is it a signed delivery?
 
The card reader will fit through a letterbox - it's about the size of a deck of cards. Everything arrived in the space of a week or two for me. Why not call them and ask what the status is?
 
Why not call them and ask what the status is?
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Aye, though first I thought I'd see the average time it took other people to get the kit then factor in my luck with An Post..
 
Hi

I haven't read all this thread so sorry if its been answered before but has the issue of transferring money electronically been addressed? i.e. can I use online banking to transfer money from my PTSB current account to the esaver. the sort code Ive been given is 98 88 16

Thanks

EDIT: sent a €1 transfer this morning, will wait and see!
 

FYI. The FA Website says "The interest rate applied to your account will be applied to the whole balance of the account" and

"Get a great rate of 5.22% AER variable*
(4.33% applied to entire account balance if equal to or above €15001). "

That means if you have 15,001 in the account, you will not get the high rate on any of it.

I've lodged 14,000, and I'm leaving it at that.
 
Well got my card reader. Nice little device. Thankfully it was protected in bubble wrap as the package looked like it got hit with something blunt and heavy during transit.

Enabled card reader(one nice thing about it is that they provide instructions on how to replace the batteries unlike the Rabo digipass) though haven't had any need to use it just yet...

They did say in the accompanying letter that my online banking will automatically switch to the card reader in 21 days... so I guess needing it will be inevitable.
 
MysticX said:
Enabled card reader(one nice thing about it is that they provide instructions on how to replace the batteries unlike the Rabo digipass)
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If your Rabo digipass battery runs out then I think you can just get a replacement. Although maybe you can open it up and replace the battery yourself (I guess it probably uses an LR44 or something like that). One the other hand does anybody actually use the Rabo device any more given their rates...
 
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